Balance
by anonymous2234
Summary: Set a month after The Last Jedi: Kylo is now confronted with the person who has been pulling the strings. Someone who was thought to be long gone. He questions Kylo's resolve to be within the Dark Side of Force. With that this person challenges Kylo's uncertainty with the apparition of someone. Though it may not be how he always thought.


**So I spilt coffee on my laptop and salvaged most my of keyboard to work. But it didn't work all summer. Thankfully when I was able to open to the main screen, I could save this document on a USB. Anyways**

**The new trailer came out XD I am extremely excited. But I am really sad. It's been a long 6 years and not to mention it is the end of the Skywalker saga. It's almost bittersweet in that sense. I really loved the Original trilogy when I saw it as a kid. But there is a lot to look forward to in this movie, I will most definitely be crying by the end. I truly enjoyed this series.**

**This was my fun take on if Rey was presented to Kylo by the means of Palpatine. I am not even sure if this is how Dark Rey will play out in the movie but I am up for anything ! Also I am using Kylo instead of Ben because of the context of him thinking that after TLJ he had no where to go than be with the First Order as Kylo Ren.**

**Hope you enjoy. Forgive my mistakes, currently midterm season :( .**

**DISCLAIMER: I own no characters or plots of the Star Wars franchise.**

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"My young apprentice."

Somewhat irked at the idea that he was under yet another Sith Lord, Kylo didn't respond. He already was an apprentice once, it backfired, for his master that is. He felt no loyalty towards this one as he had for the other. Despite that Kylo knew who he knelt before. His grandfather and uncle dueled him decades ago. In the end, his original apprentice threw him into the abyss, thought to be dead.

For Kylo that never seemed to be the case. The gnawing he had felt in his everyday life, the dreams, the _nightmares _, they stalked him tirelessly. Snoke, he had thought, from day one had been around him. However being in the presence of _him_, it was familiar. He could not defy him as he did Snoke. This was different. He was much more powerful, much more cunning and cruel than Snoke could ever be.

"You have grown quite well under Snoke in the Dark side. And yet... you betrayed him."

Palpatine's voice was interested. Kylo spoke evenly

"Snoke was weak, his mindset was too narrow and when his final moments came he could not anticipate it. He was not worthy to lead the Dark Side of the force." Palpatine cackled

"The preservation of the Dark Side of the force is your incentive?" Kylo brows furrowed. The air around him slowly fell in temperature.

"It was a par-" Kylo was cut off with the closing of his throat as he gasped for air. His hands automatically moved towards his neck as if to move the invisible hand that was tightening its grip. Grinding his teeth he fell onto his knees. His chest begged him for oxygen. Looking up he saw Palpatine walked towards him his hands curved as if it was around his neck.

"**You cannot lie to me**. I have known of your desire to kill him for years. The anger and pain you wished to be freed from fell and yet you are **still **conflicted . Always looking for something to make you whole. **Are you really a child of the Dark Side like your Grandfather**?"

His hand ripped downwards and the tightness around Kylos neck dissipated. Planting both hands to steady him as his body fell forward, Kylo coughed harshly, gasping for air. His lungs burned at each breath he took. After a minute passed, Kylo, coughing and clearing his throat shakily moved back into a kneeling position.

Palpatine circled him like a vulture.

"Are you capable to live up to the legacy of Darth Vader?"

The question was rhetorical, but it irked Kylo nonetheless.

" What is it you desire most of all. What drives you young Skywalker?"

Kylo took no seconds to pledge his allegiance.

"I am a capable user of the force like my grandfather. There is nothing more I need to prove to myself of my place within the Dark Side of the Force. The resistance is almost obliterated and this will be the end of the light side." Palpatine smirked .

" You desire the end of the resistance?"

"Yes... Master." The grin grew wider

"Such words spoken by Darth Vader himself." He walked slowly to the window of the ship staring out.

"You have his presence, manner, and yet, I see more than one similarity."

Kylo looked up, surprised.

"Your grandfathers greatest drive and weakness was in the form of a single person. This was the catalyst in which Anakin Skywalker was reborn in the Darkside. I sense you carry the same drive."

He paused as if to let Kylo digest.

"Unbalanced your soul may be, and yet..." Then with a cold cruel smile he said

"Rey was it? The scavenger girl." Kylo's body froze.

"She is strong within the force." Palpatine noted .

Kylo breathed in and found his voice "Yes, she is. Even shortly trained, she exceeds all expectations."

Papatine turned and looked upon Kylo. He bowed his head down once more.

"It seems you admire her." Kylo said nothing. Palpatine sighed, speaking as if to an onlooker

" So much like Vader," His eyes shifted to a sharper yellow

"Would you like me to give her to you?" Kylo looked up surprised. His heart skipped a beat but not in the way he expected at those words. Masking as much uncertainty as he could, Kylo felt his efforts failing. Palpatine was no fool, he could feel the churning emotions that surrounded Kylo.

" It wouldn't be hard, you had asked her join you before? Had you not?" Kylo felt his heart beating faster.

" You wanted, no _desired _her to be at your side, to rule the galaxy together. Someone who you thought understood **you**."

He turned and outstretched his hand to the emptiness of the room and the force began to shift. Turning and curling beneath the will of The Emperor, the room around Kylo had a new form. His eyes darted to his surroundings.

" ... _Ben..." _

His head abruptly turned towards his right. It was her voice. Kylo felt his chest tighten at the sound. It was the same as it was in the elevator.

"She whom you felt was your equal."

" ... _BEN!..._"

His head sharply moved to the left, his breaths shorter.

_The urgency in her voice ...the throne room_.

His mind raced as it tried to compensate for uncertainty that clouded it. It was like he was in Dagaboh ... the apparitions of his parents and the painful feelings that plagued him to this day.

"And yet, when you asked did she stay with you?"

"_Please don't go this way..." _

Rapidly standing up, Kylo turned around briskly moving towards the sound.

_Nothing_, she wasn't there.

He took deeper breaths to calm the pounding in his chest. Uneasiness began to take a hold over his senses. His mind frantically moved, trying to convince him that he was imagining all of this. He _knew _ Palpatine was messing with him, testing him. He knew all of that, and yet she seemed so _real. _

_**Find your balance**_his mind seemed to be shouting at him. But he could not.

He realized, after a year, that there was no balance on his own. Kylo tried hard, excruciatingly so, to convince himself that after, he could move on, be free of his pain. But she stood as a constant reminder of his failings and his salvation.

There was no balance on his own.

" You wanted her more than anything and yet you could not convince her to come with you. My boy, there is always a solution for your most deepest desires within the Dark side of the force. I can give you all that you desired and she will come ... _**willingly**__." _

Kylo turned adjacent to face the Emperor. His smile changed to a crueler look.

" Kylo."

His body froze and eyes widened. This wasn't like hearing her voice, he felt her. He breathed and heard the crackling of a lightsaber, but not his. Once more he turned around facing the owner of the voice. His heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach at the sight of her. All that he could have wanted stood before him. She was clothed in a black tunic and hood. Her lightsaber was double edged and red, fierce and biting. There she stood; ready to move forward with him. However her eyes that held the fire and compassion that he had come to admire and yearned from her was all but gone. She was cold, distant and all that made her, was no longer there. It was empty. A shell of what he imagined and it was worst than he expected.

" Kylo or Ben. Whom do you prefer?" Rey asked nonchalantly. A slight tinge of cruelty simmered beneath her voice.

She was taunting him, no doubt the workings of Palpatine. His eyes shifted slightly, unease flickering within them. The tips of her mouth curled upwards at his response.

In his head Kylo tried to remind himself that though she looked like Rey, she wasn't _his _Rey. Despite this, the very sight of her challenged him. She seemed to pick up on his uncertainty.

"You don't want me be by your side anymore?" Kylo felt his chest caving at those words. He knew that he wanted nothing more than that.

But not like this.

He moved forward and the sound of his boots, heavy upon the floor, echoed throughout the room. Rey stood planted, waiting to hear his response. Stopping Kylo found himself towering over her with only inches between one another. Her eyes locked onto his.

"This is what you wanted was it not my young apprentice?"

He could hear the delight in Palpatine's voice at his firing emotions. He took satisfaction that he could tempt Kylo with the apparition of Rey, with one who had said yes that day.

Kylo lifted his arm slowly, hesitantly. His gloved hand moved forward and his fingers almost brushed against her cheek. Rey as he watched her, leaned slightly to the heat radiating from his form. His brows furrowed and his lips parted. He found himself for a moment looking at every inch of her face. Her mouth was slightly opened and her eyes roamed his eyes moving down to to his lips. She paused for a moment. Then as if she was awakening from a dream her eyes fluttered and she looked back up to him.

_Not like this_

In a split second the force around Kylo focused and his desires and wants were affirmed. His hand moved abruptly past Rey's face and outstretched to rid him of this wicked game.

His eyes darkened and his lips pursed not once leaving Rey's face, as slowly the room reverted back to its original form. Rey, disappeared leaving him staring at an empty space. Kylo lowered his hand as if a weight pulled it down.

Palpatine was the first to speak

"I sense you are resolved in what it is that you want Young Skywalker".

Kylo nodded but did not turn around.

"I am master."

"Very good, you will fulfill your destiny as Darth Vaders heir."

Kylo listened to the footsteps as they became softer and softer with distance. He knew that despite what he just said Palpatine had other plans for both him and Rey. Rey was the one he was worried for. He had felt it before, the fire, the anger, the darkness that crept within her. What consumed him lived in her. He found himself astonished to see what the roles would have been like if it was in reverse. Rey's darkness, her desire to always look back made her vulnerable to Palpatine. No one better understood the pull to the darkness than him. Simultaneously no one better understood loneliness than she. But her light, the goodness needed to thrive with the dark. He might be beyond saving, but she wasn't.

Palpatine was right, his desires and wants were more solidified. He needed to find Rey and warn her. Kylo turned walking out the room. The grip on his lightsaber tightened with each step.

This will end with the emperor dead or himself.

There are no other options.

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**Thanks for reading! **


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